SocraticGadfly: Why Texas Dems will keep on losing

September 07, 2016

Why Texas Dems will keep on losing

In a set of ideas that state-level leaders of the Texas Democratic Party will likely love, and that clearly, neolib, tech-drooling (sic) reporters from the Texas Trib and elsewhere clearly DO love ...

The future of Texas voter turnout is allegedly ... all about apps.

And you thought I was going to say "plastics."

Of course, this is all ridiculously not true, and it's almost as laughable as Gavin Newsom's Donkey Kong-type app for pothole repair, one of many of such drizzle-level brainstorms from the former San Francisco Mayor App.

What it IS has been described elsewhere on this blog as "salvific technologism" and by Evgeny Morozov as "solutionism."

What you have is a bunch of technie Anglos at Anglo-focused media products (somewhat, the Chron, definitely the Trib and the Bizjournals franchise) saying apps are the way to get more Dems to turn out to vote — when we know that Dem turnout is most abysmal among Hispanics in the Valley.

Only one of the apps listed on most of the eight points of solution says it specifically comes in a Spanish-language version. Well, there's HUGE oops No. 1 overlooked by all our Anglo touters. That said, TDP Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa probably knows little more Spanish than I do, so prolly no big deal.

Beyond this, this ignores whether poorer Hispanics working multiple jobs have time for that much use of apps in particular or social media tools in general. It also ignores whether or not, time issues aside, and money for smartphones and devices issues also aside, Valley Hispanics and others are online that much or want to be online that much.

It's a lazy substitute for direct mail, let alone door-to-door GOTV efforts. It's also purely a one-way street which ...

Doesn't ask why these voters aren't turning out in the first place.

Sounds perfect for Dear Leader's Battleground Texas cadre.

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